“Oh. My mistake.” He chuckled. “Not the first time I’ve made that one either.”
Rusty stood and fished his wallet out of his back pocket, glad his emotions were set back to rights. Maybe he shouldn’t be so hard on himself. Who wouldn’t appreciate a beautiful woman’s compliment? Appreciation, that’s all he’d felt. Nothing more than that.
“Hey, I’m paying for this,” Harper said.
“Why would you do that?”
“It was my idea.”
He shook his head. “I needed a haircut anyway. You just got me off my duff to get one.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “But you’re doing me a favor by being in the auction.”
“That’s not a favor. I’m glad to help out a good cause.”
“I’m still paying.”
He put his hands on his hips. “No, you’re not.”
“Are you sure you two aren’t a couple?”
They both looked at Artie, who had started laughing. “I don’t care who pays,” he continued. “It’s past closing time, so make a decision already.”
Rusty quickly opened his wallet and handed him a credit card before Harper could get her purse. “Add a 30percent tip to that,” he said. “You earned it.”
“Thanks.” Artie headed to the cash register at the front of the shop.
“Hmmph,” Harper said.
Rusty turned around. “Hmmph,” he repeated, then smiled.
Harper’s eyes met his, their color changing from light blue to almost cobalt. Another shiver went through him.
“Here’s your receipt.” Artie tapped Rusty on the shoulder. “Next time don’t wait so long.”
“I won’t.” He took the slip of paper and crammed it into his pocket.
“Y’all have a good night.”
“You too,” Harper said, and they left the barber shop.
The cool fall air rushed against Rusty’s short, croppedhair and naked face. “Now that feels nice,” he said as they went to her car.
Harper walked to the driver’s side. Before they left she’d told him not to bother opening her doors since they would be getting in and out of the car a lot. That had piqued his interest. Getting a haircut and beard shave had never crossed his mind, though.
“Gotta admit, I’m glad to finally get this taken care of. Kinda feel like a new man now.”
“You’re going to be a new man, all right.”
He arched a brow. “What do you mean by that?”
She didn’t say anything. Only smiled.
When they got into the car, he ran his hand over the back of his head, needing the distraction. “This is gonna take some gettin’ used to,” he said as she pulled out of the space.
“If you like the haircut, you’re really going to like what comes next.”
He knew better than to ask her what that was. She would just say, “We’ll see.” Or “Trust me.” She seemed to enjoy reeling him in, and he wasn’t minding that one bit. All he could do was wait until she showed him what she had in store next.
